]]>Medical cannabis is legal in 30 states and adults can use it recreationally in 9 of those states, including Washington, D.C. But in all but a few of those places, cannabis laws prohibit possession or consumption anywhere near schools. In California, for example, Proposition 64, the state’s legalization measure, bans cannabis of any kind for any use within 1,000 feet of public schools.

Yet some medical cannabis patients are also students, and many have had to fight in court for the right to possess and use medical cannabis at school. For one 5-year-old kindergartener who suffers from a rare and severe form of epilepsy, that fight ended today.

How One Family Won The Right To Give Their Daughter Cannabis At School

Today, Judge Charles Marson issued a court order allowing Brooke Adams, a 5-year-old with Dravet syndrome, to bring cannabis to school and have a nurse administer it. Adams’ case is still pending with California’s Office of Administrative Hearings’ Special Education Division. A final ruling will be issued in mid-November.

Until then, however, Brooke can bring both CBD and THC medications to school. The school board is providing a nurse authorized to administer medical cannabis products.

Prior to the judge’s order, Brooke’s school district, Rincon Valley Union, would not allow the kindergartener to bring medical cannabis to school. Both California’s medical cannabis law and federal law strictly prohibits any form of cannabis on and around school campuses.

But attorneys representing Brooke were able to win the argument in court by pointing to other federal and state laws. They made the case that in prohibiting Brooke from bringing medical cannabis to school, the district was violating laws that mandate accommodations for students with disabilities. Both federal and California law require schools to assist students with disabilities. And that includes allowing students to take medication if doing so is necessary for them to attend school.

Children, Dravet Syndrome, and Cannabis Oil

Brooke Adams is a 5-year-old with a severe form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome. Dravet syndrome causes frequent seizures, sometimes up to 1,000 per month. It’s also a form of epilepsy that’s highly resistant to seizure drugs and other epilepsy medications. In Brooke’s case, that meant traumatic seizures, some lasting as long as three hours.

But Brooke’s parents say their daughter has found relief from a daily dose of CBD tincture and a strong THC oil for emergencies. For Brooke, THC operates as a “rescue drug” that can help stop seizures when they start. The daily CBD treatment is a preventative treatment to reduce the number of seizures Brooke has.

Two recent studies suggest that both CBD (cannabidiol) and THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) may be effective in treating epilepsy in children. One team of researchers found that THC and CBD in combination were more effective at reducing seizures than CBD alone.

Brooke became a registered medical cannabis patient in California just after her first birthday. And her mother told NBC that cannabis oil helps her have fewer seizures. A final ruling, expected in November, will say whether or not Brooke can continue bringing her rescue medication to school. If it says she can, her case may become an important precedent for changing school medical cannabis policy statewide.

]]>Study Finds Cannabis May Be Treatment Option for Schizophreniahttps://hightimes.com/news/study-finds-cannabis-treatment-option-schizophrenia/
Tue, 14 Aug 2018 20:55:08 +0000https://hightimes.com/?p=190246Could the future of schizophrenia treatment and management be in cannabis?

]]>A University of New Mexico study has found that cannabis may be an effective treatment option for schizophrenia, according to a report on the research. The report was published last week in the journal Medicines by Jegason P. Diviant and Jacob M. Vigil of the University of New Mexico Department of Psychology and Sarah S. Stith of the university’s Department of Economics.

‘Safe and Effective Treatment Option’

The researchers reviewed previous data on the impact of environmental factors, particularly the effect of auto-immune activity, in the expression of schizophrenic profiles. The authors also explored the role of cannabis therapy in regulating immunological function.

The results of the study found that cannabis can be an effective treatment for schizophrenia, either alone or in conjunction with other medications.

“A review of the literature shows that phytocannabinoid consumption may be a safe and effective treatment option for schizophrenia as a primary or adjunctive therapy,” the study’s authors wrote.

The researchers concluded that the use of cannabis can be part of an effective treatment plan for patients with the mental disorder.

“Emerging research suggests that Cannabis can be used as a treatment for schizophrenia within a broader etiological perspective that focuses on environmental, autoimmune, and neuroinflammatory causes of the disorder, offering a fresh start and newfound hope for those suffering from this debilitating and poorly understood disease,” the report reads.

The researchers noted that about 1 in 200 people have schizophrenia and that pharmaceuticals are the most common treatment for the disease.

“Approximately 0.5% of the population is diagnosed with some form of schizophrenia, under the prevailing view that the pathology is best treated using pharmaceutical medications that act on monoamine receptors,” the researchers wrote.

CBD Shows Promise

The study also noted that although some data suggest that THC may exacerbate symptoms of schizophrenia in some individuals, new evidence shows that CBD might be an especially effective treatment for the disease.

“A review of the literature suggests that CBD in particular may be a safe and effective treatment option for schizophrenia as a primary or adjunctive therapy, supporting both inflammatory causes of schizophrenia and the potential importance of targeting the ECS in treating this poorly understood disease rather than ill-tolerated antipsychotics with debilitating side effects,” they wrote.

One study showed that CBD can add to the effectiveness of other medications used to treat schizophrenia.

“In a recent placebo-controlled trial among schizophrenics, CBD treatment was shown to affect positive psychotic symptoms over and above the effect of a patient’s antipsychotic treatment,” according to the research.

A Serious Mental Disorder

Schizophrenia is a chronic and sometimes severe mental disorder that affects how a person feels, thinks, and behaves. People with the disease may feel as if they have lost touch with reality. The exact cause of schizophrenia is not known, but it is believed a combination of genetic factors, environment, and altered brain chemistry and structure may contribute to the disease. Common treatments include antipsychotic and anti-tremor medications in conjunction with various forms of therapy. There is no known cure for the disease.

]]>Back in May, Canada’s law enforcement officials were anxiously eyeing June’s vote on cannabis. While many eagerly awaited Canada’s Cannabis Act to pass, police departments worried about running out of time to train officers for a Canada with legalized marijuana. But a new online cannabis training course is aiming to speed up the process for the nation’s law enforcement agencies. With it, officers have a much better chance of being ready to enforce the rules and regulations of the Cannabis Act when it goes into effect on October 17.

Online Training Course Will Help Cops Apply New Cannabis Laws

The Canadian government spends tens of millions of dollars each year on police training. And legalized cannabis is demanding that they spend millions more. Already this year, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) rolled out a new training course to train police officers on techniques for detecting drug-impaired driving. Officers first receive training in basic field sobriety tests, then move on to training for detecting drug impairment.

Eventually, the RCMP began offering those training courses online, spurring the idea to launch an Introduction to Cannabis Legislation training module online. The online course is available to all Canadian police services. The program also doesn’t cost departments anything to complete, making it very accessible. And overall, the program is low-cost because it uses already-existing online infrastructure to share information between police.

The goal of the online training course is to standardize training for all law enforcement agencies across Canada. This way, officers can consistently apply the new cannabis laws in a knowledgeable way. And if it’s a success, law enforcement officials hope the training module can be a model for adapting to future legislative changes that impact policing.

What Does The Cannabis Training Course Cover?

Canada’s Cannabis Act, which will go into effect October 17, 2018, legalizes adult-use cannabis nationwide. Between now and then, Canadian law enforcement will continue to treat cannabis as a prohibited controlled substance. But that’s not what the new online training course addresses.

Instead, the course will prepare officers for dealing with legal cannabis, including the fine points of the new legislation. What are criminal offenses and the elements and powers of arrest for each offense under the Cannabis Act? How does the Act affect policing in Canada’s First Nation territories and reserves?

Then, there’s training in identifying not only the different forms of cannabis but also their quantities. Police need to know how much botanical cannabis is legal versus cannabis oils or other concentrates, for example. There’s also the difference between limits and restrictions for medical versus non-medical use with which police must be familiar.

Finally, the course offers training that covers critical thinking in new, uncertain situations bound to arise under legalization, such as identifying safe and unsafe situations and environments related to cannabis.

]]>Voters in North Dakota will vote on a recreational marijuana initiative this November, officials announced Monday. Secretary of State Al Jaegers has verified that activists have collected enough signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

Dave Owen is the leader of Legalize ND, the group that sponsored the initiative. He said that it is “very simple” and “implementable on day one,” according to local media.

In July, Legalize ND submitted 17,695 signatures from North Dakotans who support the measure. The secretary of state’s office determined that 14,637 of the signatures were valid, exceeding the 13,452 necessary to qualify for the ballot.

No Limits on Possession, Cultivation

If passed, the initiative will legalize personal possession and cultivation of cannabis in North Dakota. But unlike laws that have legalized recreational cannabis use in other states, the North Dakota initiative does not set any limits on the amount of cannabis a person can possess or grow. The measure also authorizes commercial cultivation and sales of marijuana.

Erik Altieri, the executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), congratulated the activists who worked to qualify the initiative for November’s election.

“We applaud the hard work and dedication from the campaign and countless volunteers on the ground in North Dakota who went door to door and out into their communities to gather the signatures required to put this on the ballot in November,” Altieri said.

“Marijuana legalization is no longer a regional or partisan issue. Well over 60% of all Americans support ending our nation’s failed prohibition and I expect North Dakota voters to send shockwaves across the country this fall when they join the growing contingent of states who have chosen the sensible path of legalization and regulation over prohibition and incarceration,” he added.

North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has already voiced his opposition to the measure. In June, he told reporters that he does not believe that cannabis legalization will be good for the state.

“It could put pressure on the treatment providers because there are a number of people who are in treatment where marijuana is their No. 1 drug of choice, so I think it just might shift the law enforcement issues from one place to another,” Stenehjem said. “I’ve said for a long time that I don’t think, if marijuana is legalized in North Dakota, we will be healthier or safer.”

Patients Still Waiting for Medical Marijuana

If the recreational cannabis initiative is successful this fall, it could speed legal access to medical marijuana for patients in the state. In 2016, voters passed the North Dakota Compassionate Care Act by a margin of 64 percent to 36 percent, legalizing the medicinal use of cannabis. But nearly two years later, details of the law are still bogged down in the state legislature and the measure has yet to be implemented. The state has announced that it has received close to 20 applications for dispensary licenses, but sales are not expected to begin until next year.

]]>Hip-hop artist Action Bronson was arrested for smoking weed at a music festival in Kosovo Saturday, according to media reports. Bronson was on stage performing at the Sunny Hill Festival over the weekend when he fired up a joint on stage. After taking a few hearty puffs, he shared his weed with his fans by flicking the joint into the crowd. A video of Bronson lighting and hitting the joint was posted to Instagram.

The display apparently did not sit well with police, who arrested Bronson at the venue. After being taken into police custody, he was subsequently released. The terms of his release or details of any charges or potential prosecution are not clear at this time.

A police spokesman released a statement following Bronson’s release.

“Following the interview with the competent prosecutor’s order the same was released,” the spokesman said, according to a translation of his statement.

The Sunny Hill Festival was billed as the largest music festival to ever be held in Kosovo. The festival was held August 10-12 at Germia National Park in Pristina, the capital city of the southeastern European state that declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Other artists performing at the Sunny Hill Festival included Martin Garrix, Dua Lipa, and Grace Carter.

Vocal Cannabis Advocate

Action Bronson, 24, is a hip-hop artist and television personality from Queens, New York. He has been an outspoken cannabis user and advocate throughout his career. As a speaker on a panel at a cannabis industry conference in 2016, Bronson said that he is a long-time cannabis user and that the herb stimulates his creativity.

“I’ve been high for 20 years. It got me through a lot of times,” Bronson said. “I’m an only child, so I’m very creative. I have to make things up in my life, like a friend here or there. Weed helps. It enhances everything with imagination in life and art and creation.”

Sometimes, however, the creativity inspired by cannabis leads to some unexpected results. Earlier this year, Bronson decided to try his hand at self-barbering after smoking a potent strain of cannabis. The experience left him without his trademark beard, he said in a radio interview.

“I was high out of my mind—it was this new strain,” Bronson said. “I never have clippers in my house for this reason. I usually call somebody to come help me out and come do that. I just started trimming and it went bad, it went awry. I tried to give it a fade, I tried to make it slim. I couldn’t stop, and then I ended up looking like Hulk Hogan in the face. It was just a bad move.”

And Saturday’s arrest isn’t the first time that Bronson’s pot use has caused professional difficulties. Staffers at HBO’s Vice, where Bronson produces his show Fuck, That’s Delicious, said his cannabis use is out of control.

“He smokes weed all the time, the whole building smells like weed when he’s there,” a source told Spin.

Another HBO employee agreed.

“He smokes pot all day long in the lobby of the fucking office. The whole lobby stinks,” the worker said.

Action Bronson’s European tour continues this weekend, with performances scheduled August 17-19 in Landerneau, France.

]]>Stephen Sweeney, New Jersey Senate President and co-sponsor of an ambitious bill to expand medical cannabis access and legalize marijuana for adult use, told reporters that he expects the state Senate to hold a vote on legalizing cannabis as early as September. But exactly what lawmakers will be voting on is still unclear. The current proposal, a combined medical and adult-use bill, still needs revision and debate in committee before it can come to a vote. Senate President Sweeney, however, says that despite the long odds and polarized opposition, lawmakers are “getting much closer” to voting on legal marijuana.

New Jersey Lawmakers Struggle To Draft Legalization Bill

Given the progress Gov. Phil Murphy has made on marijuana since taking office, you wouldn’t think the state legislature has been the scene of several delayed negotiations and bitter debates over the prospect of legal adult-use cannabis.

Governor Murphy campaigned on legalizing marijuana and expanding access to medical cannabis. Earlier this year, Murphy delivered on the latter promise, adding more qualifying conditions and growing the program to nearly 25,000 patients.

Yet Gov. Murphy seems to be deferring to lawmakers on the adult-use question. Back in June, State Sen. Nicholas Scutari introduced a bill to further expand New Jersey’s medical cannabis program and legalize cannabis for adults.

But the combination bill faced resistance from the Governor’s office and other lawmakers, including proponents of legalization. Many felt medical expansion and adult use legalization should be separate bills. One of the proposal’s co-sponsors, Senate President Stephen Sweeney, said the bill will ultimately be separated.

So the senators went back to the drawing board; they hope to have a final draft of a more amenable version of the bill done by the end of the week. After that, lawmakers will hold hearings to debate it. Depending on the hearings, the Legislature could hold a vote on legal cannabis in September.

How Soon Could New Jersey Vote on Adult-Use Cannabis?

When NJ Advanced media asked Senate President Stephen Sweeney about the vote, Sweeney said, “I think it’s gonna be soon.” But how soon? Sweeney says he and fellow co-sponsors of the legalization bill will have the legislation done in time.

If the bill does make it to a vote in September, it still has a long road ahead. First, the bill needs to pass both chambers of the state legislature—the Senate and the Assembly. Both are Democrat-controlled. Then, Governor Murphy, a Democrat who has vowed to legalize cannabis, will have to sign the bill into law.

Gov. Murphy, however, has made it clear that he won’t just sign any cannabis bill that crosses his desk. Murphy wants to make social justice and criminal legal reform the centerpiece of any adult-use legislation. Alyana Alfaro, a spokesperson for Gov. Murphy, said the governor views legalization as “a critical step in eliminating racial disparities in our criminal justice system.”

And while the bill awaits a potential September vote, New Jersey prosecutors are already giving some relief to the people and communities hit hardest by the war on drugs. Just last month, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal issued a letter ordering prosecutors to freeze all marijuana court cases until September. It’s effectively a halt on the criminalization of cannabis.

Furthermore, Grewal’s timeline coincides with the Senate’s plan to bring an adult-use bill to a vote in September. And both are clear signs that New Jersey’s Democratic leadership is committed to serious cannabis policy reform.

]]>This past weekend, we had our very first Alaska Cannabis Cup in the city of Wasilla. Dozens of growers and companies rose to the occasion and brought forth their best products for consideration. Here are the winners of the first Alaska Cannabis Cup:

]]>In states with legal medical cannabis programs in place, workplace safety continues to be a paramount concern. The multifaceted issue impacts employees, of course, but also their employers. In many states, workplaces continue to sanction employees who use medical marijuana legally. There also doesn’t seem to be much clarity on the question of workers compensation claims for medical cannabis patients, or whether insurance companies can claim cannabis as a cause of a workplace injury or death.

But how does medical cannabis legalization actually impact workplace safety? Do medical marijuana patients really pose a hazard to themselves and co-workers? A brand new study published in Drug Policy says no.

Study Finds A 19.5 Percent Reduction In Workplace Deaths In Legal MMJ States

A new study in The International Journal of Drug Policy investigates the relationship between states with medical marijuana programs and workplace fatalities. Using Bureau of Labor Statistics data from all 50 U.S. states between 1992 and 2015, the study hones in on workers in two age groups.

For workers aged 25-44, researchers associated legal medical marijuana with a 19.5 percent reduction in the expected number of workplace deaths. For younger workers 16-24, researchers also found a reduction. But for that group, the reduction in fatalities was not statistically significant. The data means, however, that legalizing medical cannabis didn’t lead to an increase in workplace fatalities.

Far from it. The study found that the association between legal medical marijuana and a decline in workplace fatalities grew stronger over time. Programs active for five years, for example, saw a 33.7 percent reduction in the expected number of deaths.

In short, medical marijuana didn’t have a negligible effect on workplace safety. It actually made workplaces safer.

Is Medical Marijuana Making It Safer To Go To Work?

The safest workplaces, measured by a reduction in workplace deaths, were those in states with medical cannabis laws that list pain as a qualifying condition and that allow personal cultivation. In other words, states that don’t list pain, or don’t allow patients to grow their own cannabis, saw lower reductions.

And there is a link, researchers suggest, between increased workplace safety and medical cannabis. Studies have shown that THC has definite short-term effects on psychomotor performance and cognition. It stands to reason that these effects would contribute to more workplace accidents, not less.

But the study doesn’t mention anything about CBD or cannabidiol. Many medical cannabis patients use CBD products not only because it’s the most appropriate for their symptoms, but because CBD doesn’t produce the psychoactive effects THC does. So patients who use medical cannabis with cannabidiol may not be high at work. And therefore, there’s no observable increase in accidents associated with them.

The authors of the Drug Policy study, however, have a different hypothesis. They point to previous studies that have documented how legal medical marijuana leads to substantial reductions in the consumption of alcohol, opioids, and other substances. If workers are using less of those substances, which definitely cause significant motor and cognitive impairment, it makes sense that workplaces are getting less deadly. The study’s authors are calling for further investigation into precisely that phenomenon.

]]>Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock announced Thursday that the city is effectively regulating the legal marijuana industry. In 2012, Hancock had campaigned against the legalization of recreational cannabis in Colorado.

After city officials released an annual report on the city’s marijuana industry, Hancock said in a press release that legalization has been successful in Denver.

“This new report demonstrates Denver’s coordinated approach between multiple agencies to manage marijuana is working,” said Hancock. “We took on the daunting challenge of becoming the first major city in America to manage legalized recreational marijuana and we are having success.”

The mayor credited coordination between Denver’s Excise and Licenses, Denver’s Fire Department, Police Department, Department of Public Health and Environment, Community Planning and Development, partners in other city agencies, the marijuana industry community, and public health advocates for the success.

Sales and Tax Revenue Up, Crime Down

The city’s 2018 Annual Marijuana Report for the period of January 2017 to January 2018 shows an increase in both cannabis sales and tax revenue generated by the industry. Retail sales of recreational pot grew 29 percent from 2016, while sales of medical marijuana dipped 3 percent.

The number of cannabis industry business licenses in Denver now stands at more than 1,100, with those entities operating in close to 500 locations in the city. The report also mentions that the first establishment in Denver to offer on-site consumption was licensed by the city in 2018.

The report notes that as more cities welcome a legalized cannabis industry, the portion of Colorado’s marijuana sales generated by Denver businesses is shrinking. In 2014, Denver businesses were responsible for 48.3 percent of Colorado’s pot sales. That figure dropped to 38.7 percent for 2017.

Revenues from cannabis taxes and licensing fees rose 20 percent in 2017 over the previous year. The city projects an additional eight percent increase in revenue this year. Cannabis tax revenue made up 3.4 percent of Denver’s general fund in 2017, up from 3.02 percent in 2016.

As cannabis sales and tax revenues rose, crime associated with marijuana and the cannabis industry has dropped. Crime related to marijuana in 2017 accounted for just 0.3 percent of all crime in the city, down from 0.42 in 2016. Crime related to the cannabis industry was only 0.21 percent of all crime, compared to 0.32 percent in 2016.

Cannabis Taxes Funding Social Programs

The city’s report also included some of the benefits that Denver is realizing from taxes generated by the cannabis industry. From 2014 through 2018 more than $11 million of marijuana revenue will be granted by Denver’s Offices of Children’s Affairs and Behavioral Health for distribution to youth-serving organizations. Additional funds have been allocated for Denver’s “High Costs” youth prevention campaign.

In 2018, Denver appropriated $12.4 million from marijuana-related revenue to add investments for deferred maintenance, affordable housing, and opioid intervention. The city budgeted $8.8 million in expenditures across city departments and agencies for regulation, enforcement, and education related to cannabis.

Fourth Year of Legal Sales

2017 was the fourth year of legal recreational cannabis sales in Denver, which began in 2014. Despite opposition from Hancock and others, Colorado voters legalized recreational use and sales of cannabis in the state with the passage of Amendment 64 in 2012.

]]>Medical Marijuana Will Not Be Permitted on Oklahoma College Campuseshttps://hightimes.com/news/medical-marijuana-will-not-be-permitted-on-oklahoma-college-campuses/
Thu, 09 Aug 2018 19:54:59 +0000https://hightimes.com/?p=190176University officials in Oklahoma say they'll follow federal law, not state law, when it comes to medical cannabis on campus.

]]>On the heels of Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin’s approval of revised regulations that eliminate many of the most onerous restrictions to the state’s 6-week-old medical cannabis program, officials at the state’s two largest public universities are announcing that medical cannabis will not be allowed on campus. The ban comes despite the recent approval of State Question 788, which broadly legalizes medical cannabis. University officials acknowledged the new state law, but they’ve instead opted to follow federal law on cannabis, citing workplace and other requirements for federal funding.

Universities Create A New Obstacle For Medical Cannabis Access in Oklahoma

In June, Oklahoma voters roundly rejected the state government’s prohibition-oriented policy by approving State Question 788 and broadly legalizing medical cannabis. Ever since the referendum, however, Oklahoma lawmakers and officials have tried to restrict the program voters approved, initiating a series of controversial decisions cannabis advocates in the state have been fighting to overturn.

Those efforts found success on Tuesday when Governor Fallin approved and signed revised rules that throw out many obstructive proposals for the implementation of SQ 788. Fallin had originally approved those amendments. But this week, she cited public opposition as cause enough to remove them. It will still be up to the legislature to craft the permanent regulatory framework for Oklahoma’s medical cannabis program.

But just as those obstacles fell, Oklahoma’s major universities put up another. Officials with both Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma said today that they won’t allow medical marijuana on their campuses.

That means students on campus, even those with a legal right to medical cannabis, will not be able to possess or consume it. The same goes for any faculty, staff, or other employee of the university. No medical cannabis will be allowed on campus, period, for any reason, at OSU and OU.

OSU, OU Say Federal Funding Requires Them To Ban Medical Cannabis

To explain the ban on medical cannabis on their campus, university officials at both institutions released a joint statement. Both cite that compliance with federal law is a requirement for receiving federal aid.

First, there’s the Federal Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act. This act prohibits the use of illegal drugs on campus or at University-sponsored events and activities. Medical cannabis isn’t illegal under Oklahoma law. But it is illegal under federal law.

Then, there’s the Federal Drug-Free Workplace Act. This act mandates that drug-free workplace policies must be in place at workplaces with certain federal contracts. And of course, there’s the Federal Controlled Substances Act, which criminalizes cannabis as a Schedule I narcotic.

Both Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma will adhere to these federal policies on marijuana rather than Oklahoma state law.

These universities aren’t the only to ban medical cannabis. And most that do cite concerns over falling out of compliance and jeopardizing federal education funding and contracts. Yet there isn’t a single instance of a college that has allowed medical cannabis on campus facing such consequences.

In fact, some universities, like Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, are openly embracing legalization and establishing research programs dedicated to studying medical cannabis.